


enchanted

by zombiepops



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alchemy, Alternate Universe - Genie/Djinn, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Fantasy, M/M, Minor Character Death, Rated For Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:06:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24181804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zombiepops/pseuds/zombiepops
Summary: There were countless stories of alchemists achieving powers beyond comprehension, some of which Hyungwon thought not to be real.The next morning, Lee Jooheon was healed.Everything after, Hyungwon would learn.Suddenly, when news of a wish granter so powerful got out to the neighboring clans, fueling grueling clan wars--when Lee Hoseok, the kindest and the oldest of the three brothers, got tangled in the crossfire, Hyungwon learned his first rule: there was no bringing back the dead.No matter how much he tried, or how many tears were shed, Hoseok was dead and there was no bringing him back.
Relationships: Chae Hyungwon/Im Changkyun | I.M
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11
Collections: Hyungwon Bingo: Round 2





	enchanted

**Author's Note:**

> It has the minor character death tag for something that happens in a flashback!! also, this is meant to fill in the last remaining square i need to make a bingo, which is the enchanted square!!!

It’s felt like literal eons since Hyungwon last opened his eyes.

The last time he remembers being able to do anything as simple as blinking, it was 1790--a rich aristocrat by the name of Minhyuk had held the amulet in his hands tightly, wanting to know the secret of immortal life and bountiful wealth, and had his wishes granted--and since then it’s been floating around in nothingness, unaware of his own body and how much time has passed. So used to the darkness, Hyungwon couldn’t even begin to comprehend what was going on. Why was he getting called out again?

He didn’t quite know.

Getting called out of the amulet is like taking deep breaths through puckered lips. It’s uncomfortable and hard to breath through, but once he’s out he knows it. Hyungwon feels a cool breeze on his skin, a luxury only granted from being out from within the amulet.. Hyungwon's eyes open and he’s met with another’s gaze. Someone’s confused gaze. The man’s attire was strange, half of their face covered by a cloth. In their hand was the enchanted amulet.

Was this who he was granting wishes to now?

“Who are you?” the person asked, tone as calm and collected as Hyungwon would make out from it being muffled by the cloth. All Hyungwon could see was a sharp gaze through feline eyes, nothing much. 

“What’s the year, if you don’t mind my inquiry?”

“2015.” The stranger’s eyes are cold. “But that doesn’t answer my question, who are you?” Usually, Hyungwon was greeted with some form of a bow, or a burst of gleeful and maniacal laughter. He’s never experienced this coldness. “If you want this piece of metal, just grab it. It’s junk anyway and I want it out of my house. And." The stranger looks at him. "If you're gonna steal something, I suggest you don't. Because even if I don't know your name, which you still haven't told me, I do remember faces very well." 

This was new.

Hyungwon had never been in contact with someone who hadn’t know the power of the amulet, much less wanted to discard of it. 

“I'm a mere benefactor, if you will. A person with magical ability at least.”

It was also new that the person holding the amulet goes into a quick prayer chant, as if they were used to encounters with the supernatural. Their eyes, the only thing visible beyond the cloth, widened in disbelief that even after the prayer Hyungwon remained there.

“What are you?” the stranger asks, and Hyungwon looks at the floor.

“Your kind would call me a genie, or a wish-granter, but,” Hyungwon sighed, “I just go by Chae. Or Hyungwon, whichever you prefer.” 

+

“Honestly, I’m surprised that this is the first time I have to explain this,” Hyungwon sighed, “Listen carefully now.” Hyungwon stretched. “The amulet you hold grants whoever holds it control over me, and I will grant ten wishes. No more, no less.” Hyungwon cracked his neck. “I can not make the dead live again, or the living dead before their time, I can not increase the amount of wishes you have, and I can not change what another person feels--and that includes romantically.” Not that it stopped people from trying, Hyungwon thought. “Anything else I can do. Name it and it is yours.” Hyungwon took a bow. “Now, what is your first wish?”

A lot of the time, Hyungwon would mess around by taking the wishes to a literal level, enjoying the indignation strewn across the faces of the people who held the amulet in their hands. Most of the people who held this power over him were utter buffoons, never thinking--only wishing upon the amulet with vague requests.

But not everyone was an utter moron, much to Hyungwon’s chagrin. And those with more calculated and well thought out wishes were the ones who were particularly dangerous. Those with more calculated and well thought out wishes were the people who could bring the world to its knees if they so chose, and Hyungwon hated working with those people the most.

Maybe this person was one of those, one of the calculating types that wanted to bring the world to a stand still.

He would think that the person would be starstruck and wide-eyed, but the eyes that stared back at him were indifferent. This nameless person, whose face was covered by cloth, looked at him with an indifference Hyungwon had never seen before and Hyungwon was utterly confused.

This person, this stranger, had no clue who he was? What power Hyungwon possesed?

“I don’t have one. Take the amulet and leave,” the stranger shrugged. “This whole indentured magical servant thing is slavery, and I don’t want to be a part of perpetuating it. I’ve got coursework to do.” The stranger took off the cloth mask, laying it on the table in front of him. He then got up, walking away from Hyungwon--who had an incredulous look on his face.

This face. There was something very familiar about this face in front of him. He just couldn’t point out exactly what it was.

“Where are you going?” Hyungwon called out. “Are you serious about wanting me to leave? I can not do that until I grant all your wishes!” Hyungwon followed behind the nameless stranger, unsure of how close he should get. 

It’s not like Hyungwon hadn’t thought about leaving, no--he had thought about it plenty of times, but the magic that kept him bound to the amulet was just that. Binding. He couldn’t leave unless someone used up all their wishes or wished him free, but even that was a long run.

Once people get their hands on his immense power, they don’t tend to wish him free.

The stranger sighed, turning on his heel to tace Hyungwon. “I’m gonna go prep the guest room, relax Hyungwon,” the stranger said. “You’ll be staying here for a bit, since I don’t know what the hell I’d use ten wishes on at the moment. Then, you’ll be free.”

+

He learns that the stranger’s name is Daniel Im, a musician in an era centuries past the one he’d last been called to. The bottom half of the peninsula he’s on is called South Korea, due to a split from a huge Korean War that he would have recalled if he were awake during the time, and it is vastly different from the Goryeo that he knew and one of his little handheld devices is called a Nintendo DS--where he played a game called Animal Crossing for hours on end without getting up to eat.

This world is strange, Hyungwon thought. He stares right at Daniel, waiting for him to say something.

"What?" 

"Make your first wish, Daniel."

"Ah, first of all. It's Changkyun. Daniel is my English name that I never use," Daniel--no, Changkyun--says. "Second of all, I already told you. I don't have a wish for you. There's nothing that I need or want. Well, maybe I wish you'd have some coffee with me but I don't really know how genies work. Or if they can drink coffee." Changkyun sighed. "I don't even know if coffee was invented in your time, because I don't know when you were born."

"994. The year I was born in.

"The tail-end of the first millenia?" Changkyun looked up from his game. "That's--whoa. That's cool." Changkyun pointed to the amulet. "H-how was that created, then?" 

"To save my family," Hyungwon replied. His voice quivered and he looked down at the ground. "But it ended up tearing us apart anyway."

Hyungwon thought about it all the time. When Hyungwon was mortal, he was the marker of the union between a mercenary and a servant of the mighty, but otherwise small, Chae clan of the East. They lived together in a small house at the end of the court, together and happy. It felt like nothing could tear them apart, how strong their family was, but yet tragedy struck only a mere seven years after he was born. 

The Chae clan was small, which meant they were quite easy to wipe out in war. 

He was merely seven when his parents died, when everything was ripped from his grasp--his childhood, his mother, his father. Everything was taken from him. He lived as a beggar essentially, unsure of what to do and where to go--starving to death until he was found by the leader of the Lee clan--a friend of his parents, named Lee Jinseok. 

Despite protest, Lee took him in. He sponsored his alchemy studies despite Hyungwon being a servant. It wasn’t his place to be there, amongst the most mighty and powerful of royals, but Lee Jinseok saw his talent in alchemy and magic and sponsored him--letting him cultivate his talents with unmatched fervor. 

He was powerful and, in some ways, cultivating his talents so he could seek revenge and was close to doing so. 

Then Lee Jooheon, one of Lee Jinseok’s sons, got poisoned by an infamous Potion Master--unknown in both name and allegiance-- known for their lethality and potency. Jooheon was one week from death, and nothing any healer knew to do could rescue him from the tragic fate of death. 

Nothing short of a miracle could save Lee Jooheon. And a miracle, Chae Hyungwon tried to achieve with all his might. 

The main family of the Lee clan was his own, and he refused to be idle as he watched who he considered to be his brother pass on without even so much as an attempt to save him. It was cowardly and Hyungwon didn’t promise his life for his brother’s when they were teenagers studying alchemy with the Im Clan just to take the easy way out and let him die. 

He was short on time, but on his life he would save Jooheon. No matter what it took. 

There were countless stories of alchemists achieving powers beyond comprehension, some of which Hyungwon thought not to be real. 

The next morning, Lee Jooheon was healed. 

Everything after, Hyungwon would learn.

Suddenly, when news of a wish granter so powerful got out to the neighboring clans, fueling grueling clan wars--when Lee Hoseok, the kindest and the oldest of the three brothers, got tangled in the crossfire, Hyungwon learned his first rule: there was no bringing back the dead. 

No matter how much he tried, or how many tears were shed, Hoseok was dead and there was no bringing him back. 

King Lee’s share of wishes had slowly been depleted by then, and Hyungwon was aware of the second rule the moment everything around him faded away to black: only ten wishes. 

No more, no less. Not even a single wish could increase the amount of wishes a person had. 

Hyungwon opened his eyes once more, and the amulet was in the grasp of a person from the other clan--his wish shackling Hyungwon to work against all the other clans in the battle. 

Including the Lees. 

He still remembered the look of betrayal on Lee Jooheon’s face, in the aftermath of being the only one left of the main family of the people who took Hyungwon in and cared for him. He wondered what Jooheon would think of him now, all the reincarnations of his spirit throughout countless centuries that he could feel but never interact with, wondered what he could do to make everything right. 

That’s when he realized the last rule: you cannot change what’s in someone’s heart. Even though he tried, once the wishes were granted, to change everything--he couldn’t change the fact that Jooheon hated him. 

But then the black took over, and he was asleep again. 

As time passed, the hands that wielded him changed. With every new hand that wielded him came another particularly horrible wish to grant. At that point, Hyungwon had lost the ability to grieve, lost the ability to care. 

Until now. 

There was something about this Im Changkyun that was familiar. One that felt the same way as his first love, but he wasn't so sure if it were possible. 

"Your first wish is for me? To drink coffee?" Hyungwon raised a brow. "With you?" Hyungwon sighed. "If it's your wish for me to do so--"

"You know what? Yeah," Changkyun says. "That is my wish." He goes over to the coffee pot, pouring two cups full to the brim. He stirs in a variety of different things, like a brilliant potions master from the Im Clan that Hyungwon had fallen in love with. "I wish for you to drink some coffee with me." _Consider it yours_ , Hyungwon thought as he takes a sip of coffee from the cup. Then it hits him. 

Im Changkyun. 

The Im Clan's Light of the Sun.

He's right in front of Hyungwon, but he doesn't even remember him. 


End file.
